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Troy Gold

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I quote from the Penn site: 2400 BC. Gold, electrum. Head is large rectangular plate framed by two crosspieces, rectangular in section, which protrude past plate and end in upturning spirals. Face of plate decorated with four vertical panels of filigree S-spirals (two in each panel) which do not all face same direction. Vertical applique strips (second and fourth double strips) with incised cross-hatching frame panels; central strip is flattened upper part of pin itself. Six hollow miniature jugs (outermost both broken) with ring bases, biconical bodies, tall necks, and flat pierced discs as covers attached on top of upper crosspiece. Similar to Early Bronze Age jewelry of Troy, Lemnos (Poliochni), and Ur.

2400 BC

One of small group of a special exhibition: These valuable artefacts were brought to Turkey thanks to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. I found more information at the site of Penn State University: “SEPTEMBER 4, 2012— Penn Museum (the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology) announces a landmark agreement with the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism for an indefinite term loan to the Republic of Turkey of a collection of 24 gold jewelry pieces, dating to circa 2400 BCE. The agreement reached between Penn and Turkey includes identification of the “Troy Gold” as being on indefinite loan from the Penn Museum; a commitment by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism of strong support for the University’s excavations at Gordion, in central Turkey; the loan of a group of remarkable artifacts excavated in a series of royal tombs at Gordion and in Lydia for a future major exhibition at the Penn Museum; and a pledge for increased cultural collaboration between Penn and Turkey. […]When the “Troy Gold” assemblage was carefully examined again in 2009 by Ernst Pernicka, a professor at the University of Tübingen in southern Germany and director of the Troy Excavations, and Hermann Born, archaeologist at the Museum für Vor und Frühgeschichte in Berlin, a particle of soil was found lodged inside one of the gold pendants. The use of a technique called neutron activation analysis revealed that the particle’s composition was consistent with the soil in the Trojan plain. Toward the end of 2011, the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism contacted the Penn Museum regarding the potential transfer of the gold to Turkey, and a series of discussions subsequently took place between the University of Pennsylvania and the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. A joint decision was reached wherein the gold would travel to Turkey on indefinite loan. The expectation is that the gold will eventually be displayed in a new museum that is planned for the archaeological site of Troy. “